Duncan to Bulls?

Hill move brings hope to Bulls


July 6, 2000

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And some of us thought the franchise-changing free agents wouldn't even return the Bulls' calls.

As of Wednesday a lineup featuring Tracy McGrady at small forward and Eddie Jones at shooting guard no longer appeared to be a Jerry Krause delusion or a Tim Floyd fantasy.

Sources close to the Bulls and around the NBA said Grant Hill's stunning change of heart dramatically improved the Bulls' chances of landing McGrady and Jones. Several sources said Charlotte free agent Jones already was leaning toward Chicago. Now that Hill has said he's "strongly leaning" toward signing with Orlando--he had indicated all along he would stay in Detroit--McGrady should be much more interested in becoming a Bull.

For now, McGrady, oddly enough, says he'll play for Orlando, where he does own a house.

"I feel very comfortable here," McGrady told the Orlando Sentinel Wednesday.

Yet he and Hill play the same position and Hill leads the league in TV commercials. One reason McGrady wants to leave Toronto is to get out from under the expanding shadow of cousin Vince "Half Man, Half Amazing" Carter. Adidas, McGrady's shoe company, is said to be encouraging him to relocate in America's third-largest market.

For sure he'll visit the Bulls this weekend. He says it's a courtesy visit, but 21-year-olds have been known to change their minds. The Cubs will help recruit McGrady by offering to let him throw out the first ball at a Cubs-Sox game at Wrigley Field. A deafening chant of "We want Tracy" from about 40,000 fans in the world's coolest ballpark should compare favorably to DisneyWorld.

The Bulls were irked by the impression that Orlando, the other team with cap room for two full-price free agents, was rolling out the first-day Magic carpet for Hill and Tim Duncan while Krause was busy celebrating the 4th. In fact, Hill is scheduled to meet Thursday in Detroit with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Talking Hill out of Orlando is a long shot, but at least Reinsdorf hasn't been too busy busting buttons over his White Sox to bust his butt for the Bulls.

Indications are that Jones has had serious talks with the Bulls and perhaps already has visited Chicago. Jones, 28, perhaps the NBA's most fluid scorer and disruptive open-court defender, at least could qualify as a poor man's Jordan at 6 feet 6 inches. But the 6-8 McGrady is viewed as a potentially more explosive force--a superstar on the verge.

San Antonio sources speculate the 6-11 Duncan, the most valuable free agent, might prefer to play with McGrady over Hill. Spurs coach/GM Greg Popovich kept a Wednesday appointment in Detroit to talk with Hill, in part perhaps because Duncan and Hill are represented by the same agent, Lon Babby. But because Hill has canceled all recruiting trips, the meetings in Detroit are thought to be courtesy sessions before Hill officially announces he'll sign with Orlando.

Contracts can't be signed until Aug. 1.

But many around the league are growing skeptical of Hill's superstar status. Couldn't Jordan or Magic Johnson or Larry Bird at least have lifted Pistons teams with former All-Stars Joe Dumars, Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner out of the first round of the playoffs? Hill's Pistons are 0-4 in first-round series.

Hill's competitive fire doesn't always match his Jordanesque skills and clean-cut marketability. Hill, to paraphrase his commercial, never seemed to have much thirst to obey.

If Duncan stays in San Antonio--a source close to Babby says it's 50-50 between the Spurs and Orlando--the Bulls could be the winners of the free-agent shopping spree. Adding McGrady and Jones to co-Rookie of the Year Elton Brand surely would double last year's 17 wins. If the Bulls could acquire a credible big man--they say a reported Marcus Fizer-for-Jermaine O'Neal deal never was discussed with Portland--a 41-41 record and playoff contention wouldn't be out of the question.

The Bulls are in the right conference, the East, to do an out-of-nowhere White Sox. Indiana, New York and Miami are aging and battle weary. But as anxious as some of us are to see Floyd coach a real team, he naturally downplayed the optimism, saying, "It's still too early in the game to say anything is crystal clear."

Especially when you're dealing with the whims of men-children being offered the same maximum six-year, $67.5 million deals. But as premature as it might be, Wednesday's news was the best Bulls' news since Jordan's last shot.


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"When your dead, anything's funny."-John Lennon